Young, female tech team leader — a verdict
I’ve had the privilege of being trusted enough to be team leader from early on in my school years — despite often being the youngest, and only female team member. Here are some thoughts about my most important learnings.
Teamwork is an investment
It’s kinda obvious: A team that knows each member well can function better. However, much more than just working together, it helps to actively start weekly sessions, where the members comes together and does a teamwork activity. Teamwork is more than just luck, it is an investment!
Games like the human knot or the marshmallow-spaghetti tower are fun ways to develop problem-solving skills. Another great activity is the secret envelope, where everyone chooses three questions from a pool of questions (“What is my best quality?” or “Where could I improve?”), and then the envelopes go around and everyone can write the answers for that person on paper and insert it into the envelope anonymously. A cool way to get amazing feedback!
Every decision has a reason
One of the most important pillars in my team leading toolbox is understanding that every behaviour has a reason, and it might well be a non-obvious one.
An example: When I was leader of my competitive robotics team in high school, one of the members caused multiple incidents when something was bothering him. It would’ve been easy to just throw him out of the team or impose some punishments. Instead, I listened to him and invested time to understand where this anger came from. I then gave him the role of the team conflict manager so that he could learn from the conflicts of others, and actively engage in resolving issues. That way, he was able to learn how to divert the anger and rationally find a solution. The team ended up having a great success at the competitions, also thanks to his engagement for the team!
Team leaders serve the team
Being a team leader does not mean you have a higher position than the rest — in the contrary, you serve the team. You’re not the captain of the ship, giving out commands — your role is to give the team the right nudge, like the steering wheel in a car, but you are part of the same car and have an equal role. Getting your hands dirty yourself shows that you are also putting work into the project, and that you are also part of the crew.
It helped me a lot to signal clearly to the other members that I am available, anytime, to listen to them and find solutions for everything. I made an effort to start weekly 1:1 sessions with each member to get quick feedback and status updates — not only about their work, but also about their happiness. This greatly helped to maintain a happy team, and a happy team is an efficient team.
Am I worth it?
A big personal hurdle was always doubting whether I am worthy of leading this team. As (one of) the youngest members in multiple occasions, and with incredibly talented and skilled colleagues, I never quite believed why I was given the leader role. In retrospect, I think being the “underestimated” member was exactly what helped me get this role: I always had to fight double as hard to get a goal and prove myself, but I also learned double as much on the way. I need to appear double as confident as I feel, but doing so also doubled my confidence. I still struggle today with the trust people are willing to give to me, but I am starting to learn to appreciate it, and to do my best to live up to it.
I learned one thing for sure: Never underestimate anyone. Everyone has to start somewhere, but keep your eye out for the ones you didn’t think would do it.
